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Accolades

“This is good news for Massachusetts wine enthusiasts, who will now be able to purchase wines they currently don’t have access to,” said Robert Dwyer of Wellesley, who blogs about wine. “This is also good news for Massachusetts in general since it will mean new revenues.”

"Robert P. Dwyer of Wellesley, who blogs about wine at thewww.wellesleywinepress.com, calls the state’s liquor laws bizarre and favors a wider availability of wine. For consumers, it would be more convenient to be able to buy wine at a supermarket while shopping for food, he said."

“You have this strange exclusion of wine, which in Europe is considered a grocery item,” said Mr. Dwyer. “Here it’s considered the demon rum.”

"trying to predict the annual Wine of the Year is a popular parlor game among enophiles. This year, blogger Wellesley Wine Press held a contest, with New York wine retailer Grapes the Wine Co. awarding a prize of a Kindle Fire e-reader to the first commenter to correctly guess this year's top wine before it was announced. Unfiltered was impressed with the number of Top 10 wines prognosticated by Wellesley's readers. "Senelwine" guessed Château de St.-Cosme Gigondas 2009, our No. 10 wine, "Mike M" guessed Quinta do Vallado Touriga Nacional Douro 2008, our No. 7 wine, "James Z" guessed Baer Ursa Columbia Valley 2008, our No. 6 wine, and "RichardPF" nailed it, winning the Kindle, and the respect of his wine-loving peers. Looks like Wellesley's readers know their wine."

The Chicago Tribune's Bill Daley mentioned the site in Rosé: A wine for more seasons. I said "For me, they're like pumpkin spice coffee drinks: best enjoyed early in the season". Bill alsogave the site a shout-out for a piece the Capitol Case Clubcontributed about restaurant wine service. I thought it was a great example of how print wine writers can effectively engage wine bloggers.

The Boston Globe's website has been linking to my recent entries as part of their expanded local coverage includingWellesley. I truly appreciate that as it has driven a lot of local traffic to this site.

It was really nice of Thomas Matthews, Executive Editor of Wine Spectator to leave a comment and then check back and answer some questions I had. Awesome guy! Check it out here. And here.

Thanks to The Boston Globe for including The Wellesley Wine Press in their list of local blogs in the Food & Drink section. Check it out here.

The Wellesley Wine Press was just added tohttp://wine.alltop.com. Alltop is an interesting topical take on sorting through the best sites on the Internet- check it out and see which sites are listed for topics you're most interested in.

Monday, December 10, 2012

Quietly included in a Wine Spectator article highlighting 14 Outstanding Wines from Santa Barbara was an epic value in California Pinot Noir. They rated the 2011 Belle Glos Meiomi Pinot Noir a whopping 92 points. With a release price of $22 and massive 92,000 case production this wine is widely available and often nicely discounted. It's not hard at all to find this wine for $16.

Past ratings from Wine Spectator for this wine:

2011: 92

2010: 88

2009: 87

2008: 87

CellarTracker community averages for these wines:

2011: 87.7

2010: 88.8

2009: 88.3

2008: 88.5

My ratings:

2011: 91

2010: 91

2009: 89

2008: 92

Putting the metrics on the 2011 through the wwpQPR Calculator (what's that?) and using $30 as the baseline price where it becomes not-too-hard to find an outstanding bottle of California Pinot Noir, and a $16 purchase price, I get:

2.98: Very Good Value

This is certainly one of the best California Pinot Noir values on the market right now.

My note on the 2011:

Dark in color. Aromatically present with grape hard candy notes. Slightly sweet in the palate. In keeping with prior reliably delicious vintages. These guys have found a house style and keep cranking it out. How many weeks does this wine age in barrel?

91/100 WWP: Oustanding

Guidance:

If you've had and enjoyed prior vintages of this wine, buy more of this one to qualify for mixed case discounts/reduce per bottle shipping costs. If you haven't tried it before, and you like luscious, fruit forward, California reds definitely give it a try. It's consistently delivered and then some across a number of bottles.

Or buy this wine now on Wine.com with 1 cent shipping through 12/11/2012 (click/tap the label image):
Like hearing about values like this one? I'd love it if you subscribed to The Wellesley Wine Press for future updates.

Question of the Day: Have you had the 2011 Meiomi yet? If so, what did you think?

Thursday, December 6, 2012

As we learned earlier this year another Massachusetts legislative session has come and gone without enacting legislation that would enable the direct shipment of wine from out of state wineries to Massachusetts residents.

It's a shame since (1) the state continues to be non-compliant with a 2010 federal court ruling and (2) the state is leaving significant revenue on the table by barring shipments.

The two bills failing to make it out of committee for a vote are HB 1029 and HB 1882.

An interesting piece by Colleen Quinn of the State House News Service sheds some rare and precious light on the issues holding up passing of direct shipment bills.

Representative Speliotis comments:

Rep. Theodore Speliotis (D-Danvers), who chairs the Consumer Protection Committee that gave the wine buying bill an unfavorable rating this week, said Thursday that while he favors removing the buying restriction, the state needs to find a way to protect local sellers.

“The biggest fear is package stores will go by the wayside like hardware stores,” Speliotis said. “The object is to try to allow new technology into an old profession without costing Massachusetts jobs.

Speliotis said he hopes the wine industry and the local package store owners will reach a consensus on a bill. They frequently discuss the issue to come up with a solution, he said.

This commentary is interesting to me because in my view the central issue in this battle has always been out of state entities (wineries and to a lesser extent out of state retailers) against Massachusetts distributors. But here the issue is painted as out of state wineries and in state retailers.

Next time you're in a wine store ask the owner whether they're concerned about the direct shipment of wine. The ones I've asked couldn't care less. The primary concerns I've heard from in-state retailers are laws which prohibit them from shipping out of state, high markups from Massachusetts wholesalers relative to other states, and wine being sold at an increasing number of nearby grocery stores.

Further, the commentary is eerily similar to the protectionist stance that got the state into trouble in the first place by limiting shipments to small out of state wineries. The reason Massachusetts should allow wine shipments is simple: Because a federal court said they need to. It shouldn't be a negotiation that involves the concerns of in state retailers.

Here's commentary from Frank Anzalotti who collectively represents the package stores in the state:

Frank Anzalotti, executive director of the Massachusetts Package Store Association, said that if online purchasing is allowed, they want local brick and mortar stores to be able to sell online too. Otherwise, he said, they would be at a disadvantage.

“We are not, in general, in favor of online purchasing,” Azalotti said. “The obvious reasons are we want a reliable responsible party doing a face-to-face transaction to make sure it is legal.”

This is another strange misdirection. Massachusetts retailers are split on whether they want to sell online. Many old guard package stores don't want things to change, while other retailers are already selling online - albeit limited to shipping only to Massachusetts addresses.

I agree that Massachusetts retailers absolutely need to be able to ship out of state in conjunction with allowing out of state wineries to be able to ship to Massachusetts. But at the same time out of state retailers should also be able to ship to Massachusetts - a provision that's never been any bill proposed to date.

Finally, check out this quote from House Minority Leader Bradley Jones - who's on our side as wine enthusiasts since he's the one who sponsored the bill:

Jones said only a handful of residents have contacted him upset they cannot buy wine out of state. But he added, “There are court cases that say we should change this.”

Our call to action is pretty clear: We need to write our representatives.Don't know who your representative is? A list can be found here.An authentic, personally written email with your address goes a long way towards getting the message to our legislators that this nonsense has gone on for long enough. Let's Free the Grapes!

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Editor's Note: This site recently reached 700 subscribers! Thanks so much for following along - it means so much to me that so many of you find this kind of wine info useful. If you're not subscribed with an RSS Reader -or- signed up for email notifications of new posts you can sign up here.

I stopped and visited New York Retailer Empire Wine last summer on our way to vacation in Michigan. What an operation. Located within a large strip mall, I never would have thought to stop in if I wasn't aware of their reputation online. I couldn't believe the volume of wine they were pushing through their registers on a summery Friday afternoon.

One thing I want this site to be about is helping friends find better wine values. Part of that is finding outstanding retailers who sell wine on razor thin margins. As I'm writing this I'm imagining co-workers and cousins looking for specific retailers to order from, and specific wines to get started with. I think 6 or 12 of the wines below would make a great stash of wines for the holiday season.

With deals swirling around this weekend I thought it would be a good opportunity to peruse their selection and make a few recommendations:

Bodegas Borsao Tinto 2011 $5.95Robert Parker called this "Possibly the single greatest dry red wine value in the world" and rated it 90 points. Plug this into the WWP QPR Calculator (what's that?) and you get 3.36: Very Good Value. I've enjoyed other Borsao wines before and I'd bet this one is good too. What do you have to lose at this price point?

Wine Retailers: Do you have an e-commerce site I can peruse and build up a similar list? Drop me an email and let me know.I'd love it if you subscribed to The Wellesley Wine Press to receive email notifications of new posts. I'm working on some great stuff in the coming weeks.

2007 Le Vieux Donjon $64.99 ($51.99 after 20% off)Still some great 2007 CdPs around, and this is one of my favorites.

Anthill FarmsAmple availability even for their single vineyard Pinots makes me refrain from buying their wines mailing list. Check out their 2010 Anderson Valley bottling for $37.99 before discount to get a feel for their style.

2009 Ridge Lytton Springs Zinfandel $32.99 ($26.39 after 20% off)If there was a "quality never goes out of style" winery for me, it's Ridge. Or maybe it's more like "nobody ever got fired for ordering Ridge". Hard to beat this wine south of $30.

2009 Shafer Relentless $74.99 ($59.99 after 20% off)The 2008 vintage of this wine (96 points/$60) was recently named Wine Spectator's Wine of the Year. It was released quite a while ago and is very difficult to find. The 2009 was just rated 95 points and is still available. They have only a few bottles left so act quick especially on this one.

2009 Benton Lane Oregon Pinot Noir $22.99 ($18.39 after 20% off)An Oregon Pinot Noir recommendation here on the WWP? You've got that right! I've been on a roll with 2009s from Oregon lately and I've enjoyed Benton Lane south of $20 in the past. Grab this one as a filler.

Blanchards can only ship to Massachusetts addresses. Orders placed online can be picked up free at their West Roxbury, MA location.

Saturday, November 24, 2012

American Express® Cardmembers can enroll an eligible American Express® Card to GET $25 BACK WHEN THEY SPEND $25 OR MOREat a qualifying small business location on November 24th. Cardmember enrollment in the offer is limited. Offer Terms apply to Cardmember participation.

Nice promotion, right? $25 just for registering your card and buying something at a qualifying merchant.

But Daniel Posner at Grapes the Wine Company noticed something that might affect wine deal hounds. Have a look at the conditions for participating merchants which exclude those that "promote...liquor":

For the purpose of this Program, qualifying small businesses include small, locally-owned storefront and online businesses with $10 million in annual revenue or less. Businesses in the following industries are excluded: government agencies, charities, non-profits, trade associations, shopping property management firms, political, religious and educational organizations. Small businesses that are part of a franchise brand with more than 100 stores are excluded. Additionally, if a franchise brand has more than 20 corporate-owned units, then the entire brand is excluded. Small businesses that promote any of the following are not eligible for the Program: pharmaceuticals, drugs, politics, pornography or sexual aids, diet aids, gambling, liquor, tobacco, firearms/weapons, or any sensitive topic with respect to current events. See Terms of Participation.

It sounds like AmEx is trying to distance themselves from controversial businesses, but it's not clear to me what "promoting" means in this context and further what they mean by "liquor". Did they intentionally choose the word liquor instead of alcohol? Liquor is a distilled beverage which contains alcohol. Wine contains alcohol but is not liquor. And what if a merchant sells wine and liquor - does that disqualify the merchant?

If you look at the Where to Shop Map you can find plenty of wine stores listed. I thought for a moment merchants with the string "liquor" in their name might be excluded but I see plenty of places included - including "Liquor Land" so that doesn't explain it.

All in all, I'm left confused whether my patronage of a local wine businesses will trigger a $25 statement credit.

AmEx: What's the deal? Are liquor stores excluded from Small Business Saturday?

Wine retailers: What are you hearing? Are you eligible for Small Business Saturday this year?

Consumers: If you shopped at a wine store today let us know whether that transaction successfully received $25 back.

Unfortunately, like all out of state retailers, they can't legally ship to MA. But for folks in other parts of the country, or those who can ship to a state which can receive shipments, this is a nice deal. Here is a concise listing of the states they can ship to:

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

If I had a nickel for every time someone told me I should check out Table & Vine over the years I'd have at least a dollar by now. I'd heard it was huge. I knew is was owned by the Big Y Supermarket chain. I'd ordered from them several times. But until I visited the store in person I didn't have a good feeling for what it's like.

Located in Springfield, MA -- about an hour and a half west of Boston -- Table and Vine is pretty easy to find. The store anchors a strip mall about 3 miles south of the Mass Pike off Exit 4. It's about as big as a medium sized grocery store with more than half of the floor space devoted to wine. The remainder of the space is devoted to beer and gourmet food.

Immediately to the right upon entering is an area normally reserved for Bordeaux and New Arrivals. But on the Saturday afternoon I visited the area was hosting a wine tasting. For a $5 charitable donation you could taste wines from a half dozen distributors pouring their wines.

From across the store I recognized Michael Quinlan. I chatted with him a bit to get an overview of their wine program and the layout of the store. I was reminded that Table & Vine is not only a wine retailer but also an importer which gives them sourcing and pricing strength especially on French and Spanish wines. From their offers and newsletters I've always suspected an old world slant, and Quinlan confirmed they probably focus on European wines than domestic. But what struck me most about the store was their strength across the board - in all categories and all price points.

When checking out a new store for the first time, I always like to browse areas of familiarity first to get a feel for typical markups. First off, their discount policy is 5% off a mixed 6+ bottles and 10% off straight cases. Non-sale items excluded. They'll ship 12 bottles to MA addresses for $22 (MA retailers aren't allowed to ship out of state by law). Not bad.

Quinlan, as kind, genuine and enthusiastic about wine as you can imagine, acknowledged they do buy certain wines in larger quantities than others which might account for some deals being better than others. This kind of variability subtly drives the deal hound in me to seek out the hidden gems; and seek guidance in categories I'm not as familiar with.

Take for example the 2010 Wrongo Dongo Monstrell. I thought it was a great buy when I found it for $8.99 earlier in the year. On vacation in Michigan this summer I paid around $15 for it. They've got it for $6.99 before discounts.

The domestic Pinot selection could use some expansion. Not that I'd expect it to align with my personal collection and account for half the store, but it's currently only half an aisle compared to Australia that's an entire aisle. Quinlan agreed this was out of step with current trends and may be due for an adjustment.

A wine caught my eye that I'd been looking for was the 2009 Beringer's Knight's Valley Reserve Cabernet (now apparently sold out online). It was recently rated 94 points by Wine Spectator and they've got it for $44.99. I knew I'd done a Wine-Searcher search for it recently and wondered why it didn't show up. They do have it listed on their website so I asked Quinlan why it wasn't turning up on Wine-Searcher. He said they choose not to list certain items they don't have a lot of because they don't want to disappoint customers who might place an order only to find out later they couldn't fulfill.

I can accept this, but it makes me less likely to notice they carry wines I might otherwise order from them. And it makes wine hunting online like searching for affordable airfare - you have to check the aggregators and the individual airline websites to make double dog sure you're getting the best deal possible. Sure, there are a ton of retailers out there who don't list at all on Wine-Searcher. But it's got to make you wonder whether you're really catching the best possible prices (not to mention availability) if you're only relying on Wine-Searcher - even Pro.

Anyway - where was I? Oh yeah - perusing the shelves. They had all kinds of interesting stuff. Just when you think you're looking at the usual suspects you stumble onto something unique. Like 2011 Lapierre Morgon magnums for $49.99. Or a 2001 St. Cosme Cote-Rotie for $27.99 in the closeout section at the back of the store. Or Radio-Coteau Zinfandel - didn't even know they made a Zin. Or an assortment of wines from Donkey & Goat - I've wanted to try them forever. Update: I've tried it. It's awesome.

Just when I thought I'd seen it all I remembered we hadn't been to the temperature controlled section of the store where they keep their nicer wines. Oh my - they've got some nice stuff. New stuff and old. Magnums of 2010 Donjon and Clos des Papes made me consider a flipping opportunity should one of them win Wine Spectator Wine of the Year later this week. Alas, they only have a few bottles of each so act now. Update: Neither won.

Peter Michael Les Pavots. 2009 Baron Pichon-Longueville for $174.99. 2004 Harlan for $649. 2009 Lewelling Napa and Wight. Cayuse. All kinds of great stuff, and much of it not listed online. Quinlan rejoined us and I asked him what some of his favorite categories were. Like seemingly all other wine geeks he said Burgundy, but emphasized an interest in Spain. I learned about some of his favorites in the pricey cellar area but in an ongoing effort to keep wine expenditures within reason went for a $13.99 La Cartuja Priorat. Update: I'd open it later that night - outstanding I thought, and a great value.

We'd easily been there an hour and a half by then so we had to get going. All 6 or so of the registers were humming, briskly ringing up customers.

One more stop before we left and that was next door to their temperature controlled wine vault where paid customer orders await pick-up or delivery. A mind blowing assortment of high value wines -- mostly Burgundy and Bordeaux -- along with boxes of varying sizes, sorted by customer. Quite an operation. The sheer volume is staggering, not to mention the dollar value.

All day, I was thinking about why I don't order more from Table & Vine. Not like I need another source of wine-budget draining temptation but for how much I complain about restrictive MA shipping laws it seems like Table & Vine is a retailer I should do more business with. I think there are several reasons why I've only placed a few orders with them to date.

First, I think a small part of it is the shipping cost. $22 per case - less than $2 per bottle -- is very reasonable. But for some reason I have a psychological block against paying for shipping. It seems like a waste of money. I'll always wait for a free shipping special or a wine I can pick-up as part of my normal errands. But this isn't terribly logical considering the cost of fuel and wear and tear on a car so this isn't a rational concern.

Second, I think their case discount policy actually stalls purchase decisions a bit. I know that if I band together with some friends and go in on a straight case I can get 10% off. But I usually want to try just a bottle or two of a specific wine so I don't go forth with the transaction. I wrote about this phenomenon previously here. I like it when the first bottle is offered at max discount. I'd like to see them to go that pricing model.

Third, I haven't paid close enough attention to their email offers. They're not terribly big into the flash sale/deep discount thing and that tends to be where I'm spending a lot of my time lately. There is an ocean of good wine being offered at great prices and each of us only need to swing at the very best deals.

Finally, I just don't spend time perusing their website poking around to see what's new. Knowing that wines like the Beringer Knight's Valley Reserve Cab are out there make me more likely to look around at their site from time to time (and pay closer attention to their newsletters).

Ultimately, I think Table & Vine is best enjoyed in person. I had a great time checking out the store, and I didn't even have time to check out the beer or gourmet food. With the volume they're doing I have a feeling their turn through their 4,000 SKUs very quickly so there's likely always new stuff to discover.

From November 22-26, 2010 they're running a 5% Off Gift Card sale. Stack these with their case discounts for larger savings. I wonder, too, whether credit cards which offer 5% back for grocery store purchases might apply to purchases at Table & Vine due to their Big Y connection. My credit card noted the details as "Grocery Stores, Supermarkets" so I bet it would. Bonus!

Question of the Day: If you've done business with or visited Table & Vine, what do you think of them? If you live in MA and haven't ordered from them or visited what could they do better to earn your business?

Monday, November 19, 2012

Looking to find wines from Wine Spectator's Top 100 list? Especially for wines in the Top 10 I've found Wine-Searcher.com -- usually the most convenient and efficient way to find specific wines -- to be less effective than usual due to listings that lag fast changing inventory. A better approach, I think, is to seek out dusty-bottled stores off the grid and make phone calls.

Some might call the pursuit of the Top 10 wines to be a fool's errand. I disagree. In choosing their Top 10 wines, their senior editors get together and taste a bunch of candidates wines and come to a consensus on the Top 10. This is different than how they normally taste whereby a single editor determine's a wine's rating. So you've got a lot of respected palates agreeing on the top wines, so as long as you don't pay a premium for the Top 10 wines you're getting some of the better values in wine today.

But how do you find them? You've got to act fast and, I think, you've got to employ unconventional techniques. You've got to look where deal hounds aren't looking.

A friend tipped me off that a retailer about 20 miles away had the #7 Shea Willamette Valley Pinot Noir for $44.99 before 15% off a case. $38.29. I wonder how he found it because the retailer does have an e-commerce site, but it's not listed on wine-searcher. Making matters worse for this wine, Shea supplies grapes for a lot of other producers so listings for other wines make it hard to perform a precise string match.

They did indeed have a listing on their site for 11 bottles of 2009 Shea Pinot Noir, but during the course of the week the listing changed to the 2010. Vintage variation being a real thing in Oregon I thought it was a mistake that was corrected after they got a lot of calls about the 2009. But they also had a listing for the 2009 Anderson's Conn Valley Reserve for the impossibly-low price of $23.99. I had to go down there and see what was going on.

So I get there and wouldn't you know it, there's 11 bottles of 2009 Shea Pinot Noir on the shelves for $44.99! I load up a basket and start eyeing other bottles to round out my case. The 2009 Anderson's Conn Valley was, sure enough, a listing for another wine - the Prologue. Good thing I didn't order a case for delivery and then have to get into an ugly discussion about returning it (including shipping costs).

Then I spotted a stack of 2009 Beringer Knight's Valley Cab for $21.99/btl before discount (not the reserve, but still a 91 point WS wine). High volume retailers are on to the 2010s by now so it was great to see the 2009 still for sale. Again Wine-Searcher doesn't turn this one up, but it's because the wrong vintage is listed on their site. They list the 2006 but it's the 2009 they've got stacks of!

I asked the wine director there what the heck was going on with the inconsistencies between the store and the website. He says he runs the bricks and mortar wine business and someone else runs the website.

So I'm thinking I may be on to something. Even for a retailer with an e-commerce site there's all kinds of hidden gems popping up because of inconsistent vintages being listed. Imagine the gems that might be out there for retailers without e-commerce sites. Heck, without websites! The way to find these wines is to look in wine shops off the beaten path. Off the grid. Away from Wine-Searcher types like myself.

Of course, just as I say this I happened to find a bottle of 2008 Shafer Relentless via Wine-Searcher at a nearby MA retailer for $35.99. A $60 release price wine, it was correctly listed as being Wine Spectator's Wine of the Year. But also, incorrectly, from France. (?) After some quick back and forth with the retailer we discovered quite a mix-up of SKUs. They actually had the 2009 Relentless (not the 2008) but it was $74.99. The $35.99 listing was for a bottle of 2008 St. Cosme Gigondas (hence the part about the Relentless being from France). Crazy stuff.

I don't get mad about mix-ups like these at this point. I actually find it interesting. So long as I don't get into a sticky situation where a jerky retailer ships me the wrong stuff then get contentious about rectifying the situation.

One strategy this makes me consider: Use Wine-Searcher to find retailers who list availability of back vintages who might not have updated to newer vintages yet. Then pick up the phone and call them. You never know what a retailer has, and neither do they it seems, until you have it in your hands.

Wine online: What a fun and chaotic circus.

Wine Spectator is set to release their Top 100 list today (in addition to their reveal last week of the Top 10). They have free site access through November 27th, 2012 so check it out.

Question of the Day: What tips and tricks have you found work well for tracking down hot wines like these?

Saturday, November 17, 2012

Wine Spectator revealed their 2012 Wine of the Year today and I don't think anyone saw this one coming. The winning wine was the 2008 Shafer Relentless -- 96 WS/$60/3,300 cases produced.

It certainly hits the metrics we've been looking for (95+ points, < $100, 1,000+ cases produced) so why was it surprising? Why didn't we see this coming? I think there are several reasons...

First, Wine Spectator has now chosen a wine from California the last 3 years. Last year was the Kosta Browne Pinot Noir (Sonoma) and the year before that was the Saxum James Berry (Paso). Taking it further, the prior winner was also domestic - the Columbia Crest Reserve Cab. Taking it even further the year before that was the Chilean Clos Apalta. This makes it 5 straight years of new world wines. I think a lot of us thought it was time for an old world wine to win, and with the great vintages from France rated this year the timing seemed right. Further, there's been some speculation that Spectator likes to spread the task of writing up the wine of the year around their senior editors. Poor James Laube had to do the write-up once again! Oh well, I guess he gets bragging rights that he's selected the Wine of the Year 3 years in a row.

Second, I think a lot of suspect that they're going to choose a wine from a region whose story they want to tell. For wines released this year, that story seemed almost certain to be from 2010 Rhone. Or 2009 Bordeaux. But what story is there to tell from 2008 in Napa for a somewhat quirky blend like the Relentless? Not much. It seems to be a play towards telling a story from a specific winery rather than a category.

Finally, Spectator just rang the bell a couple years ago for a California Syrah blend with the Saxum James Berry nod. That wine is a Grenache/Mourvedre/Syrah to the Relentless' Syrah/Petite Sirah but still -- it seems strange to have another wine so similar to the Saxum just 2 years later.

I admit: I was stunned by the California selection. Didn't see this one coming. The only time I had the slightest hunch there might be a California wine selected was when I was watching their Top 10 videos and James Laube (their editor for the wines of California) only made one appearance for wines 10 through 2 for the Beringer Reserve Cab selection. But I didn't expect California to take the top spot this year because there hasn't really been an extraordinary category from California rated this year.

So, it was a well-played suspenseful list from Spectator. And a well-played entry from Scott B!

There's a Wine Spectator connection with Scott B. No, he's not an editor or employee so don't get your hopes up for a scandal - the prize is his. But after noticing he was the winner I recalled he'd written a guest post for us earlier this year on Wine Spectator's Las Vegas Grand Tour. Looks like he deftly used the event to refine his selection. ;)

I do appreciate the actionable nature of this year's pick. I bought the bottle I tasted from Wine.com of all places - not exactly a boutique retailer! Availability at the time of the announcement of the 2008 Relentless was limited to begin with since the wine was released and rated early in this year's cycle. And even the 2009 vintage (which I'd bet is just as good if I had to guess without having tasted the 2009) is vaporizing quickly.

For my taste, this is a gorgeous bottle of wine. A powerful, inviting nose of dried blueberries and black currant with supporting savory notes which translate seamlessly to the palate and finish. 75% Syrah/25% Petite Sirah. 15.6% alcohol. $60 release price. I can totally see my way to the favorable rating Spectator bestowed upon this one. Spectacular.

Somehow I forgot to include a numerical rating. (?) What's up with that? I love scores!

My recommendation would be to remain calm if you're looking for the 2008 Relentless. It's going to be very difficult to find and it's not worth overpaying for. For my palate, it's a nice buy at $50. But north of $60 my enthusiasm tapers off. Best bet would probably be to try it at a restaurant (they tend to go through highly rated wines at a slower clip because point chasers ability to devour the wines is stymied by overall high markups and meal costs). Or perhaps at retailer who doesn't have an e-commerce site. May the best searchers win!

And if it's like the Columbia Crest Reserve - the next few vintages won't be too exorbitantly priced after a while. You can find subsequent vintages of the CC Reserve happily resting on warehouse club shelves with no buyers even in the mid to high $30s. Do you really think the 2005 vintage of that wine was magical and subsequent vintages haven't been as good?

A better strategy, if you're looking to buy wines that tend wind up on Spectator's Top 10 list ahead of time, is to find a retailer who offers them before Spectator recognizes them. My thanks to New York wine retailer Grapes the Wine Co for this sponsorship of the contest this year (a $200 Amazon.com gift card!). If you're on his mailing list you'll note that he offered a bunch of the Top 10 wines in the weeks and months preceding Spectator's list. Well, at least the ones he thinks are good. :)

The fun had to end some time. My thanks to everyone's enthusiastic participation this year. We'll do it again next year!

So that ends the fun for this year. Back to our regularly scheduled programming. I'd love it if you subscribed to the site - we've got a lot of fun things to talk about in the coming weeks. I might even motivate and crank out my own Top 25 this year.

Thursday, November 15, 2012

Wine Spectator revealed wines 5 through 2 in their 2012 Wine of the Year campaign. It was largely a return to normalcy that, in one sense, calmed the experts in our Scoop the Spectator contest, and set up a cliff hanger of sorts to see which wine will be named their Wine of the Year.

More on that in a moment, but here are some thoughts on the wines revealed today...

5. Château GuiraudSauternes 2009
What can I say about this one? This wine has won the whole thing before, but I have a hard time even spelling it. Sauternes, a dessert wine from Bordeaux with honey-lemon flavors and a quirky after taste, is a bit of an acquired taste that I haven't acquired yet.

I think what we're seeing here is how reluctant they are to repeat a wine. The 2005 Clos des Papes was Spectator's Wine of the Year in 2007 - can you imagine the groans and zzz's they'd hear from subscribers if they repeated the same wine just 5 years later? What new story would they tell?

Great birth year wine (I've got the '05 and '07 set aside for that purpose) but how many $100+ bottles do we need in our lives? I don't think this nod does much to move the market on this wine. All of the good news was already baked into the price. Even when it won it didn't escalate out of control and could still be found months later. And the well-regarded 2007 was widely available for around $100 for a long time as well. It's a great wine, but Spectator can only move the market on a widely available $100 wine so much.

This wine is always in the Top 10 and you frequently see at at Costco at a fair price. Spectator seems to love it, and as much as Harvey Steiman (who rates their Australian wines along with other categories) has turned me on to some great values I like the more affordable bottlings from Two Hands better.

Kind of like the Schild they seem to go nuts for every year that's got great QPR metrics but ultimately doesn't taste very good in my opinion, I'm a pass on this one. But I probably shouldn't bash it until I try this vintage.

I definitely had this as the favorite going in. Thomas Matthews' comment earlier this week was interesting. In hindsight it seemed to carry a conciliatory tone:

But I must note the love shown for Chateau de St.-Cosme. Louis Barruoul was at our Wine Experience last month presenting his Gigondas Valbelle 2009, our #10 wine of 2011, and both he and the wine were extremely impressive. I hope you all get to enjoy some of his wines, no matter what rank they may take in our Top 100.

Kind of a "their wines are great! we love 'em! but we could only have one winner!". I think this wine getting the number 2 nod (as opposed to number 1) is a good thing for people wanting to buy this wine because it won't vaporize quite as quickly as if it had won. But the net of it is St. Cosme is on value hunter radar screens now more than ever. I'm interested in trying other bottlings from them. They crushed it (once again) this year.

Although @EvanDawson (our first entry this year) is in the lead now, I think we all agree it's likely someone has guessed the winner already.

I've got to think it's @RichardPF's entry - the 2010 Le Vieux Donjon. There might be some concern about 2010 Rhones taking 3 of the top 5 spots, but I think since the Cosme is a Gigondas and not a true Chateauneuf-du-Pape the Donjon is still the favorite. I've heard of some panic buying of this wine today - kind of like the rush on D batteries before Hurricane Sandy.

@NWTomLee has been beating the drum for 2009 Bordeaux. It was a great vintage for sure, but so was 2010 Bordeaux. Further the Leoville Barton was already in the top 10 along with Sauternes. I think Bordeaux is done in this year's Top 10. More importantly - where's the value in Bordeaux? I don't see it. But I could be eating my words tomorrow!

If the Donjon doesn't get it, I think it would be a statement from Spectator that the wine wasn't all that great. Remember, a panel of their senior editors get together to taste the contenders for the Top 10. I've tried the wine, and it's tight. It needs time. But I think they can see through that near term stuffiness and I think it will win.

If it does, expect the price to shoot through the roof and further fuel interest in future Top 10s. It's a wine you've likely walked past if you've been an a fine wine shop the past couple months. As of this morning you could still find it in the $50 range. And Magnums for $110. Certainly a great arbitrage/flipping opportunity if you think this is the one! I've never resold a wine ever and I'm not interested in starting. But if I had to bet I'd think this is the one.

But you never know - a Bordeaux could sneak in there.
We shall see tomorrow at 11 am Eastern.

If you haven't already, have a look at the videos Wine Spectator produced for each of the Top 10 wines. They're quite good I think and provide insight into how to pronounce some tricky French wine words.

So what do you think? Will it be Chateauneuf or Bordeaux in the top spot?

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Wine Spectator began revealing their Top 10 wines of 2012 today and there were more surprises than ever. Of the 5 wines revealed only 1 was guessed in our Scoop the Spectator 2012 contest - a shockingly low number.

Here are the 5 wines revealed today, along with some commentary on each along with Wine-Searcher links...

Surprising because Spectator tends to favor wines south of $100 for attainability purposes, plus Argentine Malbec is a value driven category so this pick is seems particularly strange. Where's the value?

A bit of a surprise because it didn't hit 95 points. But $60 is a good price for a really nice bottle of Brunello and thanks to healthy availability it can be had south of $40. Definitely buy a bottle of this one.

This one was the only one that wasn't a surprise. In their 2009 Napa Cab report this wine sticks out like a sore thumb in a good way. It's hard to find a 94 point rated 2009 Napa Cab for less than $100 let alone less than $50. Expect this one to vaporize quickly. Buy buy buy!

I think this was the most surprising of the surprising picks because none of the wines from the heralded 2008 vintage made the Top 10 and now a 2009 makes the list? Crazy.

The availability, at least according to Wine-Searcher, is a bit quirky. I'd expect to see more of this wine around given its production level. Maybe they've moved on to the 2010s by now? I'd be up for trying some. < $40 for a 94 point Oregon Pinot Noir is hard to find. Shea puts out a classy bottle of wine.

This Washington wine retailer took a shot at guessing all 10 of the Top 10 wines and they're going for Rhones at both the #1 and #2 slots

http://winespectator.com has free site access through November 27th, 2012. Tell your friends you're in it for the articles even if we know the only thing that matters is...scores! ;) (kidding of course)

Monday, November 12, 2012

Upper Falls Liquors in Newton, MA is offering the 2008 Le Vieux Donjon Chateauneuf-du-Pape for $35/bottle. With a 93 point rating from Wine Spectator and a $63 release price this is a good buy. But 2008 is one of the least heralded vintages of Chateauneuf in the past decade so let's dig a bit deeper into the numbers...

Parker rated it 88-90 from barrel and evidently never released a rating for the finished product.

Cool, wet spring and humid growing season saved by the mistral; a small crop, with many producers eliminating cuvées. Quality very heterogenous, but some excellent wines can be found; stick to top names

Well, Donjon is a top name. I hadn't tried many 2008 CdPs prior to last night when I popped a 2008 Clos des Papes Chateauneuf-du-Pape to get a feel for the vintage. That wine carries a $100 release price and is starting to be discounted as well. I rated it 92 points (to Wine Spectator's 95) and felt it lacked some of the power and flavor markings I look for in CdP. That said, I thought it was an incredibly enjoyable wine.

So what to do? Buy from a great producer in an "off" vintage? Or go for something like the 2010 St. Cosme Gigondas at a similar price point? Decisions, decisions.

The 2008 Donjon currently carries a 90.2 CellarTracker Community rating.

Nationwide best price on Wine-Searcher: $44.99
(one retailer has half bottles for $39.99!)

Sunday, November 11, 2012

So I'm driving back running some errands last weekend (a visit to Guitar Center and Home Depot in case you were wondering) and I see an illuminated OPEN sign in the window of Metro West Wines. I'd heard about this business popping up in Natick just over the Wellesley line on Route 9 on The Swellesley Report but I hadn't noticed they'd opened for business yet.

So I pop in and have a conversation with the two guys behind the operation - Fred McIntyre and Paul Lavallee. They've set up Metro West Wines as a DBA (doing business as) of Nine East Wine Emporium which they share a building with. If you've traveled east on Route 9 entering Wellesley you've seen Nine East's "25% 2+ Cases" sign. They're one of several retailers that have set up shop right on the Wellesley border to offer ready access to alcohol for Wellesley residents. Although Wellesley restaurants are allowed to sell alcohol with meals liquor stores aren't allowed in Wellesley.

This limitation, along with an interest in providing the convenience of fast delivery to Wellesley and Weston is the main thrust of Metro West's value proposition. Currently, they're asking for a $50 minimum order and charge a $15 delivery fee. They deliver wine, beer, and spirits to Wellesley and Weston within an hour.

I spent about a half an hour or so talking with Fred and Paul. They're enthusiastic, motivated guys. They come from a tech background and paired with Nine East's assortment of products they've got some nice things to offer. By law Metro West's pricing must be exactly in line with Nine East's.

They shared that the idea for the business came from looking around at Weston and Wellesley households who have their dry cleaning delivered, their groceries delivered, their lawns taken care of, and take-out delivered a few times a week. In Manhattan you can have practically anything delivered to your apartment quickly. They feel there's an interest in eliminating "one more stop" from people's hectic schedules and they're here to serve.

I wish them the best in this new endeavor and I'm pleased to have them on board as an advertiser here on the WWP. Hopefully for a long time.

Question of the Day: Under what circumstances would you take advantage of a service like this? Have you heard of similar services in other locales? What suggestions would you have for a business like this?

the Wine of the Year does indeed see a sharp increase in price. Over the past decade, the average release price for the Wine of the Year was $67.60; the current average price is now $172.50. That’s an increase of 155%. But if we discard the past two winners, the Kosta Browne 2009 Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir and the Saxum James Berry 2007 Paso Robles, the price increase falls to 95%.

Dawson goes on to note that the price hike generally evaporates for the next vintage of the winning wine and that the price increases trail off quickly as you go down the Top 10.

How about the rest of the top ten? Turns out only the runner up wine sees much of a spike in price soon after the list comes out. The average release price for the runner-up wines was $68; today you can get those wines for an average of $100.50 per bottle, an increase of nearly 48%. The 10th-ranked wine has seen a price increase of 22%, which is not nothing, but not exorbitant in the higher-end wine market.

The piece goes on to mention our Scoop the Spectator contest and notes that you all have successfully predicted the winner each year the contest has been run.

Now, I used to think the entire concept of a Top 100 list was silly. This year, mine was the first guess on Dwyer’s site. As Dwyer explains, his contest is designed to help consumers.

“The fundamental motivation for knowing the winning wine ahead of time is to provide an opportunity to buy that wine before the street price goes up,” Dwyer told me. How do you know that you can get the winning wine based on Dwyer’s contest? Well, so far, Dwyer’s contestants have sniffed out the winner in advance.

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

At The Capital Grille's Generous Pour event last year, I discovered a Monastrell that sent me off on a value hunt. The category has had an exceptional batting average for me since so I'm pleased to present three particularly outstanding, mind-bending values for your consideration. But first, here's The Capital Grille's Master Sommelier George Miliotes' thoughts on Monastrell:

Wellesley Wine Press: You have a knack for finding wines that appeal to wine enthusiasts interested in discovering delicious new wines without stretching too far out of their comfort zone. In a nutshell, what’s your philosophy for choosing wines by the glass for The Capital Grille or for events like this one?

George Milotes: "For me, it is all about wines that are well-made and taste good. As solid winemaking practices have spread around the globe, there is a greater pool of diverse and tasty wines to choose from. We love to find areas or wines that are overlooked or underappreciated. Hence, the Tarima Hill Monastrell is part of The Generous Pour Wine Event this year. Monastrell is the greatest underappreciated red in the world today from a growing area (Alicante) that is barely known in Spain, let alone here in the US. We feel privileged to introduce the wine to the U.S. while showing our guests something new and delicious."

Here are three winners I've enjoyed. The price points are unreal and the wines are outstanding.

Medium bodied visually, this wine is ready to go as soon as its screw cap is opened. Quite nice on the nose with flinty raspberries wrapped around an herbal and floral infused rope. Light on its feet but utterly satisfying with chalky tannins and desirable flavors that convey on the finish. (91 points)$7.99 at The Wine Cellar of Stoneham (or 4 for $25 - $6.25/btl)

A blockbuster of a wine offering a tremendous amount of tasty fruit and earthy supporting components. Gets a little fakey grapey at times, and the 15% abv shows itself at points. But my goodness - can you complain in the $8-$9 range? Silly value here. Silly. (89 points)

Shipping tends to be pricey from Wine Enthusiast, but I don't see that the cost of shipping is explicitly excluded from this offer. It's unclear to me whether one would be able to stack this voucher with other offers, but I thought to mention this offer if you've been eyeing wine accessories from Wine Enthusiast.

Limit 1 per purchaser, up to 1 additional as gifts • Limit 1 per person per order • Valid only for online purchases • Entire value must be used in a single visit • Not valid at WineExpress.com, or for the purchases of eCards and Toast of the Town tickets

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

With all the excitement surround 2010 Rhone as it relates to Scoop the Spectator 2012 I thought it would be interesting to pause for a moment and focus on the best actionable values in 2010 Chateauneuf-du-Pape. When I say actionable I mean wines that can still be had at retail for at or below release price.

But determining value is a little more complicated. Sometimes when people talk about value wines they really mean wines under some arbitrary price. But the deal hound knows that value can be had at all price points - it depends on what you get for your dollar.

When scanning through the ratings and prices in Wine Spectator's recent 2010 Rhone issue I noticed they didn't have a Top Values section for 2010 Chateauneuf-du-Pape. Although they did have a Top Southern Rhone Values section (CdP is part of the Southern Rhone) it was capped at $20. That being the case there were no CdPs in the value rankings.

We can scan the Top CdPs for good Quality-to-Price Ratio (QPR) wines but I thought I might be missing some good wines because the lowest rated wine in that list is 94 points.

To determine value within a category I use the wwpQPR equation (Wellesley Wine Press Quality-Price-Ratio). There's a JavaScript implementation of this calculator on the right side of my site. Give it a try if you're interested, but I've pulled Spectator's ratings for 2010 CdP and put them through the equation:More on the WWP QPR here if you're interested, but here's what the wwpQPR scale looks like:

Interpreting the wwpQPR's Normalized Scale:

>8.0 Incredible value

4.0-7.99 Outstanding value

2.0-3.99 Very good value

1.5-1.99 Good value

1.01-1.49 Above average value

0.5-0.99 Below average value

0-0.49 Poor value

Normally I try to obtain these wines and taste them to offer an additional opinion to consider. But these 2010s, from what I've tasted, really need time to be enjoyable. Compared to the gregarious 2007s, these 2010s are more classically styled. That being the case, I doubt I'm going to pop a lot of these in the near term, least of all before the best values have disappeared from retailers.

All of these are 2010 Chateauneuf-du-Papes, sorted by value according to the wwpQPR Calculator:

Note: Even when the 2005 won Wine of the Year it could still be found for just slightly over retail. I wouldn't go too nuts trying to track this one down. It's out there. 99 RP.

Hope this is useful. If you haven't already, don't forget to get your entries in for Scoop the Spectator 2012! Many of these wines haven't been guessed yet. Contest ends Friday and we're playing for a $200 Amazon Gift Card. Thanks for the entries so far! I've updated each of the entries with Wine-Searcher links to make it easier to find these wines.

Sunday, November 4, 2012

Just back from a shopping trip to Costco in Waltham, MA and they had what I thought were some very good deals for wine enthusiasts.

First off was a nice price on Riedel stemware. $99.99 for 8 Vinum Bordeaux stems. Compared to around $25 per stem that you typically see these going for this is a fantastic deal. Riedel sells these for $177 (buy 6 get 2 free supposedly). Amazon sells them for around 2 for $50:

...so $99 for 8 Vinum stems at Costco ($12.50 per stem) is a great price. If you're not near a Costco that carries these -- or if you're looking for a dishwasher safe, lead-free option -- I continue to think these Schott Zwiesel Tritan Fortes are the best $10 stem you can buy:

For those unfamiliar with Massachusetts liquor laws, it's illegal to sell wine contingent on a club membership so alcohol needs to be sold separately from other goods. Non-Costco members are allowed to buy alcohol without a membership. So alcohol is sold past the register in a separate caged area. Crazy, right?

Anyway, they've usually got pretty good deals on wine but the inventory is rather static. When they do get something good in it goes quickly. If you had a mole inside Costco it would be handy.

They had a few wines I took note of that I hadn't seen before.

First was the 2010 Beringer Knights Valley Cabernet for $14.99. With no tax on alcohol in MA this is a phenomenal price. The lowest I see nationwide on wine-searcher.com is $16.98. The 2009 rendition of this wine was rated 91 points by Wine Spectator. I popped a bottle tonight and it's a very nice bottle of $15 Cabernet. I'd say 87-89 points in my book.

They also had the 2009 Robert Mondavi Napa Cabernet for a little over $18. That's nothing new, but as we wander around the wine world seeking out obscure producers, Mondavi is one to come back to for palate calibration. I'll let you know if it's worth mentioning when I open it but I expect it to be what it always is: A solid Napa Cab for less than $20.

Finally, the Vieux Telegraphe CdP has clicked over to the 2009 vintage. At $58.99 it's on par with nationwide low pricing, but 2010 is a regarded as a better vintage. Maybe buy a bottle of the 2009 and stalk the bin to see if it ever clicks over to the 2010 vintage. Let us know if it does in the comments okay?

I've got a bunch of good stuff in the hopper for future posts including a write-up on the best California Pinot Noirs available at Warehouse clubs now. The suspense! Subscribe to the WWP to receive new posts via email.
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